Underneath a tree surrounded by empty Budweiser cans, Tamika Jacobs, LaMont Brown and George McBride sat on a bench bordering the basketball courts on 16th Street and Susquehanna Avenue, shading themselves from the Saturday morning sun.
“[Temple students] had me cracking up last night,” Brown said, grinning. “I said, ‘Where y’all going? Where’s the party at?’ and they said, ‘We’re trying to find it.’”
Weekend after weekend for 36 years, Jacobs has been observing students “trying to find the party” throughout the school year. But her scrutiny remains focused on the Temple Police.
“[Students] come down here with kegs and six packs and parties up on the roof and all that,” she said. “If we were to party up on the roof, the whole police station would be down here.”
Brown shook his head in agreement, pointing to the corner of the block where someone was arrested the day before for drinking beer in public.
“It’s a double standard,” he said.
While Jacobs said she doesn’t mind most students, the double standard is a growing problem.
“If we walked out here drinking a beer, they’re locking us up,” Jacobs added, her voice rising. “But if [students] do it, there’s nothing being done at all.”
McBride’s home neighbors seven houses rented by Temple students. Relatively quiet, McBride said they only get noisy when “they party on the weekends,” so he remains unfazed by students.
“[North Philly will be] a community within a college community,” McBride said, “most of them who go to college might end up staying here.”
Ashley Nguyen can be reached at ashley.nguyen@temple.edu.
“[North Philly will be] a community within a college community,” McBride said, “most of them who go to college might end up staying here.”
lol, North Philly is disgusting, filthy, and incredibly dangerous. You couldn’t pay me to live in North Philly after I finish with Temple. It’s nothing like living on a ‘real’ college campus, it’s more like living in the ghetto for a few years than anything.
If it weren’t for Temple campus the whole area would be much worse off. College students with attract business and housing investment. Temple area real estate has seen drastically higher property value growth than similar areas in North Philly because of this fact. The area where Temple is would be as bad as Olney and Hunting Park if it weren’t for everything the university and it’s students bring to the area.
Joe, have you ever paid attention to your own peers who contribute to the filthy surroundings. They think, “Well, we don’t live here, and everybody else does it, why shouldn’t we?” And then they litter, which makes it 10x worse…would they litter in their home towns? Respect for the community comes from everyone, and Temple students could be contributors toward setting a positive example, and show that they too care.